NPP youth threaten to attack School Feeding coordinators in Tamale
Chaos continues to overwhelm the Northern Regional Secretariat of the School Feeding Programme as the Burma Camp youth has threatened to deploy armed men to attack Zonal Coordinators of the programme who are set to begin official duty today.
“We have picked information that the unconcluded handpicked Zonal coordinators have been asked to resume work tomorrow and we want to state on record that we are well prepared waiting for such individuals and should anything happen to them, the gender minister and the deputy minister of the Northern region should be blamed,” a petition seen declared.
The threat to attack the disputed Zonal Coordinators was contained in a petition to the New Patriotic Party Council of Elders in the region on Sunday, October 22, 2017.
“None of these individuals will be allowed to do any monitoring work within the region, the days of autocracy is over. Our concerns must be addressed with immediate effect,” the statement added.
This comes just a week after the school feeding Secretariat in the Region was closed down by the group, who are now implicating the Regional Minister, Salifu Saeed and his Deputy, Solomon Boar and promising more radical protests until Gender Minister Otiko Djaba halts attempts to undermine the Regional Coordinator, Madam Felicia Teetey.
The group said it shut down the regional office of the programme to protest the unilateral decision by Otiko to neglect women organizers in the region and appoint her tribal cronies – pump attendants, National Service personnel and retired officers – as Zonal Coordinators of the programme.
The group also accused the Gender Minister of sidestepping the authority of the Regional Coordinator, undermining her efforts and “arrogantly” refusing to work with him.
The group added that Otiko Djaba gave out double appointments to individuals and called for dialogue to address their concerns, particularly for a balanced appointment of Zonal coordinators.
But, seven days after the attack, party leadership and top government representatives have brushed them off refusing roundtable deliberations while the politics playing out keep sinking the Feeding Programme in the region.
The group has, therefore, petitioned the party Regional Council of Elders renewing its vow to never give up.
The statement to the Council of Elders condemned the Regional Minister and his deputy for pretending to play neutral and acting ‘hypocritically’ indifferent to the concerns raised.
“One will have thought by now our concerns would have been addressed by the Minister for Gender, the Northern regional minister, and his deputy but it seems these individuals sit unconcerned thinking they can impose those their so-called coordinators who double as caterers, and we want to state that it won’t happen today or tomorrow”, the group stressed.
The group said the office would remain shut until women organizers in the region and the Regional coordinator assumes full control of the programme. – Eliasu Tanko
